Dtv transmitter and method of coding data in dtv transmitter

ABSTRACT

A DTV transmitter includes an encapsulation unit which encapsulates enhanced data having an internet protocol (IP) format into a plurality of addressable sections. The encapsulation unit inserts burst time information into each addressable section. The DTV transmitter further includes a first multiplexer multiplexing the encapsulated enhanced data with program and system information, a pre-processor pre-processing the multiplexed enhanced data, a data formatter generating enhanced data packets including the pre-processed data and inserting the known data into the enhanced data packets, and a second multiplexer generating one or more bursts of data by multiplexing the enhanced data packets.

This application claims the benefit of the Korean Patent Application No.10-2006-0003933, filed on Jan. 13, 2006, which is hereby incorporated byreference as if fully set forth herein. Also, this application claimsthe benefit of the Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0089736, filedon Sep. 15, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fullyset forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a digital telecommunications system,and more particularly, to a DTV transmitter and a method of coding datain a DTV transmitter.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Presently, the technology for processing digital signals is beingdeveloped at a vast rate, and, as a larger number of the population usesthe Internet, digital electric appliances, computers, and the Internetare being integrated. Therefore, in order to meet with the variousrequirements of the users, a system that can transmit diversesupplemental information in addition to video/audio data through adigital television channel needs to be developed.

Some users may assume that supplemental data broadcasting would beapplied by using a PC card or a portable device having a simple in-doorantenna attached thereto. However, when used indoors, the intensity ofthe signals may decrease due to a blockage caused by the walls ordisturbance caused by approaching or proximate mobile objects.Accordingly, the quality of the received digital signals may bedeteriorated due to a ghost effect and noise caused by reflected waves.However, unlike the general video/audio data, when transmitting thesupplemental data, the data that is to be transmitted should have a lowerror ratio. More specifically, in case of the video/audio data, errorsthat are not perceived or acknowledged through the eyes or ears of theuser can be ignored, since they do not cause any or much trouble.Conversely, in case of the supplemental data (e.g., program executionfile, stock information, etc.), an error even in a single bit may causea serious problem. Therefore, a system highly resistant to ghost effectsand noise is required to be developed.

The supplemental data are generally transmitted by a time-divisionmethod through the same channel as the video/audio data. However, withthe advent of digital broadcasting, digital television receivers thatreceive only video/audio data are already supplied to the market.Therefore, the supplemental data that are transmitted through the samechannel as the video/audio data should not influence the conventionalreceivers that are provided in the market. In other words, this may bedefined as the compatibility of broadcast system, and the supplementaldata broadcast system should be compatible with the broadcast system.Herein, the supplemental data may also be referred to as enhanced data.Furthermore, in a poor channel environment, the receiving performance ofthe conventional receiver may be deteriorated. More specifically,resistance to changes in channels and noise is more highly required whenusing portable and/or mobile receivers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a DTV transmitter anda method of coding data in a DTV transmitter that substantially obviateone or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the relatedart.

An object of the present invention is to provide a DTV transmitter and amethod of coding data in a DTV transmitter that is suitable fortransmitting supplemental data and that is highly resistant to noise.

An object of the present invention is to provide a DTV transmitter and amethod of coding data in a DTV transmitter that is suitable fortime-slicing internet protocol (IP) type enhanced data, therebytransmitting the time-sliced data in burst units.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a digitalbroadcasting system and a data processing method that can insert knowndata in a specific domain of the supplemental data and transmitting theknown data to a digital broadcast receiver, thereby enhancing thereceiving performance of the digital broadcasting receiver.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and in part willbecome apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may berealized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in thewritten description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, adigital television (DTV) transmitter includes an encapsulation unit, afirst multiplexer, a pre-processor, a data formatter, and a secondmultiplexer. The encapsulation unit encapsulates enhanced data having aninternet protocol (IP) format into a plurality of addressable sectionsand inserts burst time information into each addressable section. Forexample, it may insert the burst time information into a header of eachaddressable section. The burst time information indicates a time betweeneach addressable section included in a current burst of data and a nextburst of data. The first multiplexer multiplexes the encapsulatedenhanced data with program and system information. The pre-processorpre-processes the multiplexed enhanced data by coding the enhanced datafor forward error correction (FEC) and by expanding the FEC-codedenhanced data. The data formatter generates enhanced data packetsincluding the pre-processed enhanced data and inserts known data into atleast one of the enhanced data packets. Finally, the second multiplexergenerates one or more bursts of data by multiplexing the enhanced datapackets, where each burst of data includes at least one of theaddressable sections.

In addition, the encapsulation unit may further insert a section numberand/or a last section number into each addressable section. The sectionnumber indicates a total number of addressable sections included in acurrent burst of data, and the last section number indicates a countvalue of each addressable section.

In another aspect of the present invention, a digital television (DTV)receiver includes a demodulator, an equalizer, a channel decoder, a maindata packet remover, a demultiplexer, and a data extractor. Thedemodulator demodulates a broadcast signal including at least one burstof data. Each burst of data includes a plurality of addressablesections, and each addressable section includes enhanced data. Theequalizer equalizes a channel of the demodulated broadcast signal. Thechannel decoder decodes the channel-equalized signal by performingViterbi-decoding, data deinterleaving, RS decoding, and derandomizing onthe channel-equalized broadcast signal. The main data packet removerremoves main data packets from the decoded signal and outputs enhanceddata packets only. The demultiplexer parses program and systeminformation from the enhanced data packets, and the data extractorextracts the addressable sections from the enhanced data packetsoutputted from the demultiplexer. The data extractor further extractsburst time information from each addressable section.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a digital broadcast (ortelevision) transmitter according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a encapsulation process of the enhanced dataaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram showing the structure of the enhanceddata multiplexer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a time-slicing method according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the structure of an addressable sectionsyntax according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram showing the structure of ademodulating unit with a digital broadcast (or television) receiveraccording to the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a digital broadcast (or televisionor DTV) transmitter according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram showing a general structure of ademodulating unit within a digital broadcast (or television or DTV)receiver according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram showing the structure of a digitalbroadcast (or television or DTV) receiver according to an embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram showing the structure of a digitalbroadcast (or television or DTV) receiver according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

In addition, although the terms used in the present invention areselected from generally known and used terms, some of the termsmentioned in the description of the present invention have been selectedby the applicant at his or her discretion, the detailed meanings ofwhich are described in relevant parts of the description herein.Furthermore, it is required that the present invention is understood,not simply by the actual terms used but by the meaning of each termlying within.

In the present invention, the enhanced data may either consist of dataincluding information such as program execution files, stockinformation, and so on, or consist of video/audio data. Additionally,the known data refer to data already known based upon a pre-determinedagreement between the transmitter and the receiver. Furthermore, themain data consist of data that can be received from the conventionalreceiver, wherein the main data include video/audio data.

Also, by transmitting IP type enhanced data, the present invention maysupport various compression types. Also, by time-slicing enhanced datapackets and transmitting the time-sliced enhanced data packets in burstunits, and by transmitting burst-related transmission parameters insection units, power consumption of the receiver may be reduced.Furthermore, the present invention relates to inserting known data in aspecific domain of the supplemental data and transmitting the known datato a digital broadcast receiver, thereby enhancing the receivingperformance of the digital broadcasting receiver.

As a part of the digital broadcast transmitter according to the presentinvention, FIG. 1 illustrates an assembly part for receiving andprocessing enhanced data having an IP format. Referring to FIG. 1, theassembly part includes an addressable section encapsulation part 101, anenhanced data multiplexer 102, a pre-processor 103, a packet formatter104, a packet multiplexer 105, and a scheduler 106. When enhanced datahaving the IP format are inputted, the addressable section encapsulationpart 101 encapsulates the received enhanced data to an addressablesection structure (e.g., ATSC T3/S13), as shown in FIG. 2. Theencapsulated section type enhanced data are then configured to a MPEG-2transport stream (TS) format, thereby being inputted to the enhanceddata multiplexer 102.

More specifically, the addressable section encapsulation part 101fragments the IP type enhanced data to equal sizes of IP datagram, asshown in FIG. 2(a) to FIG. 2(b). Thereafter, each IP datagram isencapsulated once again to addressable sections. Subsequently, theenhanced data having the encapsulated section format are encapsulated tothe MPEG-2 TS format. Referring to FIG. 2(a), a complete IP datagramincludes IP payload, IP header, and other header information. Herein,the IP header is commonly included in each IP datagram which is createdby fragmenting, as shown in FIG. 2(b). Furthermore, each addressablesection may additionally include a section header, a checksum, and CRC.Such addressable section structure is configured to coincide with adigital storage media command and control (DSMCC) section format usedfor transmitting private data. In the present invention, a transmissionparameter associated with the transmission signal is inserted in aportion of the addressable section and then transmitted. The detailedprocess of the same will be described later on.

As described above, the enhanced data of the payload domain that may beprovided in the IP data may include data used in the conventionaldigital TV broadcasting, such as MPEG-2, AC-3, etc., and may alsosupport technology provided by various compression methods, such asH.264/AVC, MPEG-4, etc. The output of the addressable sectionencapsulation unit 101 is inputted to the enhanced data multiplexer 102.The enhanced data multiplexer 102 receives the enhanced dataencapsulated in the MPEG-2 TS format, which are then multiplexed withsignals of a corresponding program, system information, and so on. Then,the enhanced data multiplexer 102 outputs the multiplexed data to thepre-processor 103.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed block diagram of the enhanced datamultiplexer 102 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Theenhanced data multiplexer 102 includes a first multiplexer 311, a tablegenerator 312, a second multiplexer 313, and a packet conversion buffer314. Herein, the first multiplexer 311 multiplexes the MPEG-2 TS typeenhanced data outputted from the addressable section encapsulation unit101 and a table generated from the table generator 312, such as aprogram map table (PMT). Thereafter, the first multiplexer 311 outputsthe multiplexed data to the second multiplexer 313. The table generator312 generates a program specific information (PSI) table and a programand system information protocol (PSIP) table. The PSI generates aprogram map table (PMT), a program association table (PAT), and so on.The PSIP generates a system time table (STT), a rating region table(RRT), a master guide table (MGT), a virtual channel table (VCT), anevent information table (EIT), an extended text table (ETT), and so on.

The second multiplexer 313 multiplexes the output of the firstmultiplexer 311 and the output of the table generator 312. Then, thesecond multiplexer 313 outputs the multiplexed data to the packetconversion buffer 314. At this point, at least one type of enhanced datamay be inputted, and each enhanced data type is multiplexed with acorresponding PMT by the first multiplexer 311. Then, the multiplexeddata are inputted to the second multiplexer 313. In order to multiplexvarious types of enhanced data with each corresponding PMT, the firstmultiplexer 311 includes a plurality of multiplexers. Each enhanced datatype may be considered as a single program. Furthermore, informationassociated with a physical layer of real-time broadcasting, such aswhether or not time-slicing is performed, burst length, and so on, istransmitted to the PSIP table.

The packet conversion buffer 314 adjusts the 188-byte unit transportstream (TS), which is outputted from the second multiplexer 313, to ablock length requested by the pre-processor 103 which is positionedafter the packet conversion buffer 314. For example, if thepre-processor 103 processes data by 164-byte units, synchronization ofthe data is set so that the 188-byte unit input data are divided into164-byte length units and outputted. Conversely, if the pre-processor103 processes data longer than the 188-byte unit, synchronization of thedata is set so that data having the required length are processed, andthen the data are outputted accordingly. The pre-processor 103pre-processes the enhanced data outputted from the enhanced datamultiplexer 102, such as encoding additional error correction,interleaving, and inserting null data, and then outputs thepre-processed enhanced data to the packet formatter 104.

At this point, the enhanced data and the known data may be multiplexedand transmitted by the packet formatter 104. Herein, the enhanced datacorrespond to data including information, and the known data correspondto data defined in accordance with an agreement between the receiver andthe transmitter. More specifically, based on the control of thescheduler 106, the packet formatter 104 configures a transport packet byincluding at least one of the pre-processed enhanced data and the knowndata (or known data place holder) and by adding a 4-byte MPEG header.The packet formatter 104 then outputs the transport packet to the packetmultiplexer 105. In the structure of the enhanced data packet outputtedfrom the packet formatter 104, the enhanced data and the known dataconfigure a 184-byte unit packet, and the 4-byte MPEG header is added atthe beginning of the 184-byte unit packet.

Meanwhile, the main data are outputted to the packet multiplexer 105 intransport packet (TS) units. And, the packet multiplexer 105time-division multiplexes the main data packet and the enhanced datapacket group in transport stream (TS) packet units and outputs themultiplexed TS packets in accordance with the control of the scheduler106. More specifically, the scheduler 106 generates a control signal andoutputs the control signal to the packet multiplexer 105. The controlsignal enables the main data packet and the enhanced data packet to bemultiplexed. Accordingly, the packet multiplexer 105 receives thecontrol signal, thereby multiplexing and outputting the main data packetand the enhanced data packet in TS packet units. At this point, inaccordance with the control signal of the scheduler 106, the packetmultiplexer 105 gathers (or groups) a plurality of consecutive enhanceddata packets and time-slices the gathered enhanced data packets in burstunits and outputs the time-sliced data packets.

Each burst section may either include only one or more enhanced datapackets or include both enhanced data packet(s) and main data packet(s).The data packets are gathered, time-sliced, and then transmitted so thatthe power of the receiver is turned on only during the correspondingburst section so as to receive the corresponding data. Suchcharacteristic is particularly useful in mobile receivers which requiresmall power consumption. When the data packets are decapsulated andgathered, the corresponding data packets have the addressable sectionstructure shown in FIG. 2(c). Therefore, at least one addressablesection is included in the burst.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a time-slicing method used in thepacket multiplexer according to an embodiment of the present invention.In this example, power is turned on only during the burst section.Referring to FIG. 4, a next burst time (NBT) represents the timestarting from each section within the current burst to the startingpoint of the next burst, when transmitting data by time-slicing. Asshown in FIG. 4, as the sections within the current burst extend from S₁to S₂, . . . , S_(N), the next burst time (NBT) continues to decrease(i.e., NBT_(S1)>NBT_(S2)> . . . >NBT_(SN)). More specifically, as thesection number of the current burst increases, the NBT value decreases.At this point, when the NBT-associated transmission parameter istransmitted to the receiver, the receiver accurately searches for areceiving point of the next burst, thereby performing the correspondingprocess steps. In the present invention, the NBT-associated transmissionparameter is included and transmitted as a portion of the addressablesection. Particularly, the corresponding NBT is included and transmittedas a portion of the addressable section header.

FIG. 5 illustrates a syntax structure of an addressable sectionaccording to the present invention. More specifically, FIG. 5illustrates an example in which ‘0x3F’ is assigned to the Table ID.Referring to FIG. 5, a section header starts from a table_id field to arepetition statement including a datagram_data_byte field. Then, thefollowing portion until right before a checksum field corresponds to asection payload. More specifically, actual data are included in astuffing_byte field. In the present invention, in the section headershown in FIG. 5, among the 6 bytes indicating the deviceID, 4 bytes areused for transmitting NBT-associated transmission parameters andadditional transmission parameters. Referring to FIG. 5, although the4-byte deviceID[47..16] at end portion of the section header is given asan example of the present invention, the 4-byte deviceID may be changedto the beginning of the section header or allocated in 4 bytes among all6 bytes. The number of bytes assigned for the deviceID may also bechanged. Furthermore, a section_number field is used for transmitting acount value indicating the total number of sections within one burst.And, a last_section_number field is used for transmitting a count valueof the section that is currently being transmitted.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a demodulating unit included adigital broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. More specifically, as part of the demodulating unit accordingto the present invention, FIG. 6 illustrates the part that receives andprocesses enhanced data having the IP format that are time-sliced andtransmitted in burst units. Referring to FIG. 6, the structure includesa demodulator and equalizer 601, a channel decoder 602, a main datapacket remover 603, a packet deformatter 604, an enhanced data processor605, a demultiplexer 606, and an IP data extractor 607.

A signal that is received through an antenna and tuned is demodulatedand channel-equalized by the demodulator and equalizer 601. Thereafter,the processed signal is outputted to the channel decoder 602. Thedemodulator and equalizer 601 use the known data in the demodulatingprocess, such as timing recovery or carrier recovery, or in the channelequalizing process, thereby enhancing the demodulating and channelequalizing performances. The channel decoder 602 sequentially performsViterbi decoding, data deinterleaving, RS-decoding, and parity byteremoving processes on the demodulated and channel-equalized signal.Subsequently, the channel decoder 602 outputs the processed signal tothe main data packet remover 603 in a MPEG-2 TS format.

The main data packet remover 603 removes a 188-byte unit main datapacket from the data that are being inputted in the MPEG-2 TS format.Then, only the remaining enhanced data packet is outputted to the packetdeformatter 604. Herein, the main data and the enhanced data areidentified by a packet identification number (PID) The packetdeformatter 604 removes the 4-byte MPEG header from the 188-byte unitenhanced data packet, and also removes the known data (or known dataplace holder) from the remaining 184 bytes of the enhanced data packet.Thereafter, the processed enhanced data packet is outputted to theenhanced data processor 605. The enhanced data processor 605 performs aninverse process of the pre-processor included in the transmitter on thedata outputted from the packet deformatter 604. Then, the processed dataare outputted to the demultiplexer 606.

The demultiplexer 606 converts the data that are being inputted toMPEG-2 TS format data. Herein, the data is processed with a systemdecoding process, in which program information and system informationare extracted. In the system decoding step, the packet identification(PID) on the enhanced data that are to be currently received, theprogram information, and the information on service configuration (i.e.,whether time-slicing was performed, the burst length, etc.) can beknown. The MPEG-2 TS type data that are converted in the demultiplexer606 are then inputted to the IP data extractor 607. The IP dataextractor 607 performs PID filtering on the MPEG-2 TS type data that areto be received, so as to restore the data to the addressable sectionformat. Subsequently, a real-time transmission parameter included in thesection header portion (i.e., the NBT-associated transmission parameter)is parsed, so as to decide whether to turn the power on or off. Further,the IP format enhanced data(or enhanced IP data) are restored by usingthe data configured to have the addressable section format.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram showing the structure of a digitalbroadcast transmitter according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The digital broadcast(or DTV) transmitter includes apre-processor 710, a packet multiplexer 721, a data randomizer 722, aReed-Solomon (RS) encoder/non-systematic RS encoder 723, a datainterleaver 724, a parity byte replacer 725, a non-systematic RS encoder726, a frame multiplexer 728, and a transmitter 730. The pre-processor710 includes an enhanced data randomizer 711, a RS frame encoder 712, ablock processor 713, a group formatter 714, a data deinterleaver 715,and a packet formatter 716.

In the present invention having the above-described structure, main dataare inputted to the packet multiplexer 721. Enhanced data are inputtedto the enhanced data randomizer 711 of the pre-processor 710, wherein anadditional coding process is performed so that the present invention canrespond swiftly and appropriately against noise and change in channel.The enhanced data randomizer 711 randomizes the received enhanced dataand outputs the randomized enhanced data to the RS frame encoder 712. Atthis point, by having the enhanced data randomizer 711 perform therandomizing process on the enhanced data, the randomizing process on theenhanced data by the data randomizer 722 in a later process may beomitted. Either the randomizer of the conventional broadcast system maybe used as the randomizer for randomizing the enhanced data, or anyother type of randomizer may be used herein.

The RS frame encoder 712 receives the randomized enhanced data andperforms at least one of an error correction coding process and an errordetection coding process on the received data. Accordingly, by providingrobustness to the enhanced data, the data can scatter group error thatmay occur due to a change in the frequency environment. Thus, the datacan respond appropriately to the frequency environment which is verypoor and liable to change. The RS frame multiplexer 712 also includes aprocess of mixing in row units many sets of enhanced data each having apre-determined size. By performing an error correction coding process onthe inputted enhanced data, the RS frame encoder 712 adds data requiredfor the error correction and, then, performs an error detection codingprocess, thereby adding data required for the error detection process.The error correction coding uses the RS coding method, and the errordetection coding uses the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) coding method.When performing the RS coding process, parity data required for theerror correction are generated. And, when performing the CRC codingprocess, CRC data required for the error detection are generated.

The RS frame encoder 712 performs CRC coding on the RS coded enhanceddata in order to create the CRC code. The CRC code that is generated bythe CRC coding process may be used to indicate whether the enhanced datahave been damaged by an error while being transmitted through thechannel. The present invention may adopt other types of error detectioncoding methods, apart from the CRC coding method, and may also use theerror correction coding method so as to enhance the overall errorcorrection ability of the receiver. For example, assuming that the sizeof one RS frame is 187*N bytes, that (235,187)-RS coding process isperformed on each column within the RS frame, and that a CRC codingprocess using a 2-byte (i.e., 16-bit) CRC checksum, then a RS framehaving the size of 187*N bytes is expanded to a RS frame of 235*(N+2)bytes. The RS frame expanded by the RS frame encoder 712 is inputted tothe block processor 713. The block processor 713 codes the RS-coded andCRC-coded enhanced data at a coding rate of G/H. Then, the blockprocessor 713 outputs the G/H-rate coded enhanced data to the groupformatter 714. In order to do so, the block processor 713 identifies theblock data bytes being inputted from the RS frame encoder 712 as bits.

The block processor 713 may receive supplemental information data suchas signaling information, which include information on the system, andidentifies the supplemental information data bytes as data bits. Herein,the supplemental information data, such as the signaling information,may equally pass through the enhanced data randomizer 711 and the RSframe encoder 712 so as to be inputted to the block processor 713.Alternatively, the supplemental information data may be directlyinputted to the block processor 713 without passing through the enhanceddata randomizer 711 and the RS frame encoder 712. The signalinginformation corresponds to information required for receiving andprocessing data included in the data group in the receiver. Suchsignaling information includes data group information, multiplexinginformation, and burst information.

As a G/H-rate encoder, the block processor 713 codes the inputted dataat a coding rate of G/H and then outputs the G/H-rate coded data. Forexample, if 1 bit of the input data is coded to 2 bits and outputted,then G is equal to 1 and H is equal to 2 (i.e., G=1 and H=2).Alternatively, if 1 bit of the input data is coded to 4 bits andoutputted, then G is equal to 1 and H is equal to 4 (i.e., G=1 and H=4).As an example of the present invention, it is assumed that the blockprocessor 713 performs a coding process at a coding rate of ½ (alsoreferred to as a ½-rate coding process) or a coding process at a codingrate of ¼ (also referred to as a ¼-rate coding process). Morespecifically, the block processor 713 codes the received enhanced dataand supplemental information data, such as the signaling information, ateither a coding rate of ½ or a coding rate of ¼. Thereafter, thesupplemental information data, such as the signaling information, areidentified and processed as enhanced data.

Since the ¼-rate coding process has a higher coding rate than the ½-ratecoding process, greater error correction ability may be provided.Therefore, in a later process, by allocating the ¼-rate coded data in anarea with deficient receiving performance within the group formatter714, and by allocating the ½-rate coded data in an area with excellentreceiving performance, the difference in the overall performance may bereduced. More specifically, in case of performing the ½-rate codingprocess, the block processor 713 receives 1 bit and codes the received 1bit to 2 bits (i.e., 1 symbol). Then, the block processor 713 outputsthe processed 2 bits (or 1 symbol). On the other hand, in case ofperforming the ¼-rate coding process, the block processor 713 receives 1bit and codes the received 1 bit to 4 bits (i.e., 2 symbols). Then, theblock processor 713 outputs the processed 4 bits (or 2 symbols).Additionally, the block processor 713 performs a block interleavingprocess in symbol units on the symbol-coded data. Subsequently, theblock processor 713 converts to bytes the data symbols that areblock-interleaved and have the order rearranged.

The group formatter 714 inserts the enhanced data outputted from theblock processor 713 (herein, the enhanced data may include supplementalinformation data such as signaling information including transmissioninformation) in a corresponding area within the data group, which isconfigured according to a pre-defined rule. Furthermore, in relationwith the data deinterleaving process, various types of places holders orknown data are also inserted in corresponding areas within the datagroup. At this point, the data group may be described by at least onehierarchical area. Herein, the data allocated to the each area may varydepending upon the characteristic of each hierarchical area.Additionally, each group is configured to include a fieldsynchronization signal.

The present invention shows an example of the data group being dividedinto three hierarchical areas: a head area, a body area, and a tailarea. Accordingly, in the data group that is inputted for the datadeinterleaving process, data are first inputted to the head area, theninputted to the body area, and inputted finally to the tail area. In theexample of the present invention, the head, body, and tail areas areconfigured so that the body area is not mixed with the main data areawithin the data group. Furthermore, in the present invention, the head,body, and tail areas may each be divided into lower hierarchical areas.For example, the head area may be divided into 3 lower hierarchicalareas: a far head (FH) area, a middle head (MH) area, and a near head(NH) area. The body area may be divided into 4 lower hierarchical areas:a first lower body (B1) area, a second lower body (B2) area, a thirdlower body (B3) area, and a fourth lower body (B4) area. And, finally,the tail area may be divided into 2 lower hierarchical areas: a far tail(FT) area and a near tail (NT) area.

In the example of the present invention, the group formatter 714 insertsthe enhanced data being outputted from the block processor 713 to themiddle head (MH) area, the near head (NH) area, the first to fourthlower body (B1 to B4) areas, and the near tail (NT) area. Herein, thetype of enhanced data may vary depending upon the characteristic of eacharea. The data group is divided into a plurality of areas so that eacharea may be used for different purposes. More specifically, areas havingless interference with the main data may show more enhanced receivingperformance as compared with area having more interference with the maindata. Additionally, when using the system in which the known data areinserted in the data group and then transmitted, and when a long set ofconsecutive known data is to be periodically (or regularly) inserted inthe enhanced data, the body area is capable of regularly receiving suchenhanced data having a predetermined length. However, since the enhanceddata may be mixed with the main data in the head and tail areas, it isdifficult to regularly insert the known data in these areas, and it isalso difficult to insert long known data sets that are consecutive inthese areas.

Details such as the size of the data group, the number of hierarchicalareas within the data group and the size of each hierarchical area, andthe number of enhanced data bytes that may be inserted in eachhierarchical area may vary depending upon the design of the systemdesigner. Therefore, the above-described embodiment is merely an examplethat can facilitate the description of the present invention. In thegroup formatter 714, the data group may be configured to include aposition (or place) in which the field synchronization signal is to beinserted. When assuming that the data group is divided into a pluralityof hierarchical areas as described above, the block processor 713 maycode the data that are to be inserted in each area at different codingrates.

In the present invention, based upon the areas that are each expected toshow different performance after the equalization process when using thechannel information that may be used for the channel equalizationprocess in the receiver, a different coding rate may be applied to eachof these areas. For example, the block processor 713 codes the enhanceddata that are to be inserted in the near head (NH) area and the first tofourth lower body (B1 to B4) areas at a ½-coding rate. Thereafter, thegroup formatter 714 may insert the ½-rate coded enhanced data in thenear head (NH) area and the first to fourth lower body (B1 to B4) areas.On the other hand, the block processor 713 codes the enhanced data thatare to be inserted in the middle head (MH) area and the near tail (NT)area at a ¼-coding rate, which has greater error correction ability thanthe ½-coding rate. Subsequently, the group formatter 714 may insert the½-rate coded enhanced data in the middle head (MH) area and the neartail (NT) area. Furthermore, the block processor 713 codes the enhanceddata that are to be inserted in the far head (FH) area and the far tail(FT) area at a coding rate having even greater error correction abilitythan the ¼-coding rate. Thereafter, the group formatter 714 may insertsthe coded enhanced data either in the far head (FH) and far tail (FT)areas or in a reserved area for future usage.

Apart from the enhanced data, the group formatter 713 may also insertsupplemental information data such as signaling information indicatingthe overall transmission information in the data group. Also, apart fromthe coded enhanced data outputted from the block processor 713, and inrelation with the data deinterleaving process in a later process, thegroup formatter 714 may also insert a MPEG header place holder, anon-systematic RS parity place holder, and a main data place holder inthe data group. Herein, the main data group place holder is insertedbecause the enhanced data and the main data may be mixed in the head andtail areas depending upon the input of the data deinterleaver. Forexample, based upon the output of the data after being deinterleaved,the place holder for the MPEG header may be allocated to the front ofeach data packet. Additionally, the group formatter 714 may eitherinsert known data generated according to a pre-defined rule, or insert aknown data place holder for inserting known data in a later process.Furthermore, a place holder for the initialization of the trellisencoder module 727 is inserted in a corresponding area. For example, theinitialization data place holder may be inserted at the beginning (orfront) of the data place sequence.

The output of the group formatter 714 is inputted to the datadeinterleaver 715. And, the data deinterleaver 715 performs an inverseprocess of the data interleaver deinterleaving the data and place holderwithin the data group being outputted from the group formatter 714.Thereafter, the data deinterleaver 715 outputs the deinterelaved data tothe packet formatter 716. Among the data deinterleaved and inputted, thepacket formatter 716 removes the main data place holder and RS parityplace holder that were allocated for the deinterleaving process from theinputted deinterleaved data. Thereafter, the remaining portion of thecorresponding data is grouped, and 4 bytes of MPEG header are insertedtherein. The 4-byte MPEG header is configured of a 1-byte MPEGsynchronization byte added to the 3-byte MPEG header place holder.

When the group formatter 714 inserts the known data place holder, thepacket formatter 716 may either insert actual known data in the knowndata place holder or output the known data place holder without anychange or modification for a replacement insertion in a later process.Afterwards, the packet formatter 716 divides the data within theabove-described packet-formatted data group into 188-byte unit enhanceddata packets (i.e., MPEG TS packets), which are then provided to thepacket multiplexer 721. The packet multiplexer 721 multiplexes the188-byte unit enhanced data packet and main data packet outputted fromthe packet formatter 716 according to a pre-defined multiplexing method.Subsequently, the multiplexed data packets are outputted to the datarandomizer 722. The multiplexing method may be modified or altered inaccordance with diverse variables of the system design.

As an example of the multiplexing method of the packet multiplexer 721,the enhanced data burst section and the main data section may beidentified along a time axis (or a chronological axis) and may bealternately repeated. At this point, the enhanced data burst section maytransmit at least one data group, and the main data section may transmitonly the main data. The enhanced data burst section may also transmitthe main data. If the enhanced data are outputted in a burst structure,as described above, the receiver receiving only the enhanced data mayturn the power on only during the burst section so as to receive theenhanced data, and may turn the power off during the main data sectionin which main data are transmitted, so as to prevent the main data frombeing received, thereby reducing the power consumption of the receiver.

When the data being inputted correspond to the main data packet, thedata randomizer 722 performs the same randomizing process of theconventional randomizer. More specifically, the MPEG synchronizationbyte included in the main data packet is discarded and a pseudo randombyte generated from the remaining 187 bytes is used so as to randomizethe data. Thereafter, the randomized data are outputted to the RSencoder/non-systematic RS encoder 723. However, when the inputted datacorrespond to the enhanced data packet, the MPEG synchronization byte ofthe 4-byte MPEG header included in the enhanced data packet isdiscarded, and data randomizing is performed only on the remaining3-byte MPEG header. Randomizing is not performed on the remainingportion of the enhanced data. Instead, the remaining portion of theenhanced data is outputted to the RS encoder/non-systematic RS encoder723. This is because the randomizing process has already been performedon the enhanced data by the enhanced data randomizer 711 in an earlierprocess. Herein, a data randomizing process may or may not be performedon the known data (or known data place holder) and the initializationdata place holder included in the enhanced data packet.

The RS encoder/non-systematic RS encoder 723 RS-codes the datarandomized by the data randomizer 722 or the data bypassing the datarandomizer 722. Then, the RS encoder/non-systematic RS encoder 723 addsa 20-byte RS parity to the coded data, thereby outputting theRS-parity-added data to the data interleaver 724. At this point, if theinputted data correspond to the main data packet, the RSencoder/non-systematic RS encoder 723 performs a systematic RS-codingprocess identical to that of the conventional receiver on the inputteddata, thereby adding the 20-byte RS parity at the end of the 187-bytedata. Alternatively, if the inputted data correspond to the enhanceddata packet, the 20 bytes of RS parity gained by performing thenon-systematic RS-coding are respectively inserted in the decided paritybyte places within the enhanced data packet. Herein, the datainterleaver 724 corresponds to a byte unit convolutional interleaver.The output of the data interleaver 724 is inputted to the parity bytereplacer 725 and the non-systematic RS encoder 726.

Meanwhile, a memory within the trellis encoding module 727, which ispositioned after the parity byte replacer 725, should first beinitialized in order to allow the output data of the trellis encodingmodule 727 so as to become the known data defined based upon anagreement between the receiver and the transmitter. More specifically,the memory of the trellis encoding module 727 should first beinitialized before the known data sequence being inputted istrellis-encoded. At this point, the beginning of the known data sequencethat is inputted corresponds to the initialization data place holderinserted by the group formatter 714 and not the actual known data.Therefore, a process of generating initialization data right before thetrellis-encoding of the known data sequence being inputted and a processof replacing the initialization data place holder of the correspondingtrellis encoding module memory with the newly generated initializationdata are required.

A value of the trellis memory initialization data is decided based uponthe memory status of the trellis encoding module 727, thereby generatingthe trellis memory initialization data accordingly. Due to the influenceof the replace initialization data, a process of recalculating the RSparity, thereby replacing the RS parity outputted from the trellisencoding module 727 with the newly calculated RS parity is required.Accordingly, the non-systematic RS encoder 726 receives the enhanceddata packet including the initialization data place holder that is to bereplaced with the initialization data from the data interleaver 724 andalso receives the initialization data from the trellis encoding module727. Thereafter, among the received enhanced data packet, theinitialization data place holder is replaced with the initializationdata. Subsequently, the RS parity data added to the enhanced data packetare removed. Then, a new non-systematic RS parity is calculated andoutputted to the parity byte replacer 725. Accordingly, the parity bytereplacer 725 selects the output of the data interleaver 724 as the datawithin the enhanced data packet, and selects the output of thenon-systematic RS encoder 726 as the RS parity. Thereafter, the paritybyte replacer 725 outputs the selected data.

Meanwhile, if the main data packet is inputted, or if the enhanced datapacket that does not include the initialization data place holder thatis to be replaced, the parity byte replacer 725 selects the data and RSparity outputted from the data interleaver 724 and directly outputs theselected data to the trellis encoding module 727 without modification.The trellis encoding module 727 converts the byte-unit data tosymbol-unit data and 12-way interleaves and trellis-encodes theconverted data, which are then outputted to the frame multiplexer 728.The frame multiplexer 728 inserts field synchronization and segmentsynchronization signals in the output of the trellis encoding module 727and then outputs the processed data to the transmitter 730. Herein, thetransmitter 730 includes a pilot inserter 731, a modulator 732, and aradio frequency (RF) up-converter 733. The operation of the transmitter730 is identical to the conventional transmitters. Therefore, a detaileddescription of the same will be omitted for simplicity.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a demodulating unit included inthe receiver according to another embodiment of the present invention.Herein, the demodulating unit may effectively process signalstransmitted from the transmitter shown in FIG. 7. Referring to FIG. 8,the demodulating unit includes a demodulator 801, a channel equalizer802, a known data detector 803, a block decoder 804, an enhanced datadeformatter 805, a RS frame decoder 806, an enhanced data derandomizer807, a data deinterleaver 808, a RS decoder 809, and a main dataderandomizer 810. For simplicity, the demodulator 801, the channelequalizer 802, the known data detector 803, the block decoder 804, theenhanced data deformatter 805, the RS frame decoder 806, and theenhanced data derandomizer 807 will be referred to as an enhanced dataprocessor. And, the data deinterleaver 808, the RS decoder 809, and themain data derandomizer 810 will be referred to as a main data processor.

More specifically, the enhanced data including known data and the maindata are received through the tuner and inputted to the demodulator 801and the known data detector 803. The demodulator 801 performs automaticgain control, carrier wave recovery, and timing recovery on the datathat are being inputted, thereby creating baseband data, which are thenoutputted to the equalizer 802 and the known data detector 803. Theequalizer 802 compensates the distortion within the channel included inthe demodulated data. Then, the equalizer 802 outputs the compensateddata to the block decoder 804.

At this point, the known data detector 803 detects the known data placeinserted by the transmitter to the input/output data of the demodulator801 (i.e., data prior to demodulation or data after demodulation). Then,along with the position information, the known data detector 803 outputsthe symbol sequence of the known data generated from the correspondingposition to the demodulator 801 and the equalizer 802. Additionally, theknown data detector 803 outputs information enabling the block decoder804 to identify the enhanced data being additionally encoded by thetransmitter and the main data that are not additionally encoded to theblock decoder 804. Furthermore, although the connection is not shown inFIG. 8, the information detected by the known data detector 803 may beused in the overall receiver and may also be used in the enhanced dataformatter 805 and the RS frame decoder 806.

By using the known data symbol sequence when performing the timingrecovery or carrier wave recovery, the demodulating performance of thedemodulator 801 may be enhanced. Similarly, by using the known data, thechannel equalizing performance of the channel equalizer 802 may beenhanced. Furthermore, by feeding-back the demodulation result of theblock demodulator 804, the channel equalizing performance may also beenhanced. Herein, the channel equalizer 802 may perform channelequalization through various methods. In the present invention, a methodof estimating a channel impulse response (CIR) for performing thechannel equalization process will be given as an example of the presentinvention. More specifically, in the present invention, the channelimpulse response (CIR) is differently estimated and applied inaccordance with each hierarchical area within the data group that aretransmitted from the transmitter. Furthermore, by using the known datahaving the position (or place) and contents pre-known according to anagreement between the transmitter and the receiver, so as to estimatethe CIR, the channel equalization process may be processed with morestability.

In the present invention, one data group that is inputted for channelequalization is divided into three hierarchical areas: a head area, abody area, and a tail area. Then, each of the areas is divided intolower hierarchical areas. More specifically, the head area may bedivided into a far head (FH) area, a middle head (MH) area, and a nearhead (NH) area. And, the tail area may be divided into a far tail (FT)area and a near tail (NT) area. Furthermore, based upon a long knowndata sequence, the body area may be divided into 4 lower hierarchicalareas: a first lower body (B1) area, a second lower body (B2) area, athird lower body (B3) area, and a fourth lower body (B4) area. Inperforming channel equalization on the data within the data group byusing the CIR estimated from the field synchronization signal and theknown data sequence, and in accordance with the characteristic of eacharea, either one of the estimated CIRs may be directly used withoutmodification, or a CIR created by interpolating or extrapolating aplurality of CIRs may be used.

Meanwhile, if the data being channel equalized and then inputted to theblock decoder 804 correspond to the enhanced data on which additionalencoding and trellis encoding are both performed by the transmitter,trellis-decoding and additional decoding processes are performed asinverse processes of the transmitter. Alternatively, if the data beingchannel equalized and then inputted to the block decoder 804 correspondto the main data on which additional encoding is not performed and onlytrellis-encoding is performed by the transmitter, only thetrellis-decoding process is performed. The data group decoded by theblock decoder 804 is inputted to the enhanced data deformatter 805, andthe main data packet is inputted to the data deinterleaver 808.

More specifically, if the inputted data correspond to the main data, theblock decoder 804 performs Viterbi decoding on the inputted data, so asto either output a hard decision value or hard-decide a soft decisionvalue and output the hard-decided result. On the other hand, if theinputted correspond to the enhanced data, the block decoder 804 outputseither a hard decision value or a soft decision value on the inputtedenhanced data. In other words, if the data inputted to the block decoder804 correspond to the enhanced data, the block decoder 804 performs adecoding process on the data encoded by the block processor and thetrellis encoder of the transmitter. At this point, the output of the RSframe encoder included in the pre-processor of the transmitter becomesan external code, and the output of the block processor and the trellisencoder becomes an internal code. In order to show maximum performanceof the external code when decoding such connection codes, the decoder ofthe internal code should output a soft decision value. Therefore, theblock decoder 804 may output a hard decision value on the enhanced data.However, when required, it is more preferable that the block decoder 804outputs a soft decision value.

The present invention may also be used for configuring a reliability mapusing the soft decision value. The reliability map determines andindicates whether a byte corresponding to a group of 8 bits decided bythe code of the soft decision value is reliable. For example, when anabsolute value of the soft decision value exceeds a pre-determinedthreshold value, the value of the bit corresponding to the soft decisionvalue code is determined to be reliable. However, if the absolute valuedoes not exceed the pre-determined threshold value, then the value ofthe corresponding bit is determined to be not reliable. Further, if atleast one bit among the group of 8 bits, which are determined based uponthe soft decision value, is determined to be not reliable, then thereliability map indicates that the entire byte is not reliable. Herein,the process of determining the reliability by 1-bit units is merelyexemplary. The corresponding byte may also be indicated to be notreliable if a plurality of bits (e.g., 4 bits) is determined to be notreliable.

Conversely, when all of the bits are determined to be reliable withinone byte (i.e., when the absolute value of the soft value of all bitsexceeds the pre-determined threshold value), then the reliability mapdetermines and indicates that the corresponding data byte is reliable.Similarly, when more than 4 bits are determined to be reliable withinone data byte, then the reliability map determines and indicates thatthe corresponding data byte is reliable. The estimated numbers aremerely exemplary and do not limit the scope and spirit of the presentinvention. Herein, the reliability map may be used when performing errorcorrection decoding processes.

Meanwhile, the data deinterleaver 808, the RS decoder 809, and the maindata derandomizer 810 are blocks required for receiving the main data.These blocks may not be required in a receiver structure that receivesonly the enhanced data. The data deinterleaver 808 performs an inverseprocess of the data interleaver of the transmitter. More specifically,the data deinterleaver 808 deinterleaves the main data being outputtedfrom the block decode 804 and outputs the deinterleaved data to the RSdecoder 809. The RS decoder 809 performs systematic RS decoding on thedeinterleaved data and outputs the systematically decoded data to themain data derandomizer 810. The main data derandomizer 810 receives thedata outputted from the RS decoder 809 so as to generate the same pseudorandom byte as that of the randomizer in the transmitter. The main dataderandomizer 810 then performs a bitwise exclusive OR (XOR) operation onthe generated pseudo random data byte, thereby inserting the MPEGsynchronization bytes to the beginning of each packet so as to outputthe data in 188-byte main data packet units.

Herein, the format of the data being outputted to the enhanced datadeformatter 805 from the block decoder 804 is a data group format. Atthis point, the enhanced data deformatter 805 already knows thestructure of the input data. Therefore, the enhanced data deformatter805 identifies the system information including signaling informationand the enhanced data from the data group. Thereafter, the identifiedsignaling information is transmitted to where the system information isrequired, and the enhanced data are outputted to the RS frame decoder806. The enhanced data deformatter 805 removes the known data, trellisinitialization data, and MPEG header that were included in the main dataand the data group and also removes the RS parity that was added by theRS encoder/non-systematic RS encoder of the transmitter. Thereafter, theprocessed data are outputted to the RS frame decoder 806.

More specifically, the RS frame decoder 806 receives the RS-coded andCRC-coded enhanced data from the enhanced data deformatter 805 so as toconfigure the RS frame. The RS frame decoder 806 performs an inverseprocess of the RS frame encoder included in the transmitter, therebycorrecting the errors within the RS frame. Then, the 1-byte MPEGsynchronization byte, which was removed during the RS frame codingprocess, is added to the error corrected enhanced data packet.Subsequently, the processed data are outputted to the enhanced dataderandomizer 807. Herein, the enhanced data derandomizer 807 performs aderandomizing process, which corresponds to an inverse process of theenhanced data randomizer included in the transmitter, on the receivedenhanced data. Then, by outputting the processed data, the enhanced datatransmitted from the transmitter can be obtained.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the RS framedecoder 806 may also be configured as follows. The RS frame decoder 806may perform a CRC syndrome check on the RS frame, thereby verifyingwhether or not an error has occurred in each row. Subsequently, the CRCchecksum is removed and the presence of an error is indicated on a CRCerror flag corresponding to each row. Then, a RS decoding process isperformed on the RS frame having the CRC checksum removed in a columndirection. At this point, depending upon the number of CRC error flags,a RS erasure decoding process may be performed. More specifically, bychecking the CRC error flags corresponding to each row within the RSframe, the number of CRC error flags may be determined whether it isgreater or smaller than the maximum number of errors, when RS decodingthe number of rows with errors (or erroneous rows) in the columndirection. Herein, the maximum number of errors corresponds to thenumber of parity bytes inserted during the RS decoding process. As anexample of the present invention, it is assumed that 48 parity bytes areadded to each column.

If the number of rows with CRC errors is equal to or smaller than themaximum number of errors (e.g., 48), which may be corrected by the RSerasure decoding process, the RS erasure decoding process is performedon the RS frame in the column direction. Thereafter, the 48 bytes ofparity data that were added at the end of each column are removed.However, if the number of rows with CRC errors is greater than themaximum number of errors (e.g., 48), which may be corrected by the RSerasure decoding process, the RS erasure decoding process cannot beperformed. In this case, the error may be corrected by performing ageneral RS decoding process.

As another embodiment of the present invention, the error correctionability may be enhanced by using the reliability map created whenconfiguring the RS frame from the soft decision value. Morespecifically, the RS frame decoder 806 compares the absolute value ofthe soft decision value obtained from the block decoder 804 to thepre-determined threshold value so as to determine the reliability of thebit values that are decided by the code of the corresponding softdecision value. Then, 8 bits are grouped to configure a byte. Then, thereliability information of the corresponding byte is indicated on thereliability map. Therefore, even if a specific row is determined to haveCRC errors as a result of the CRC syndrome checking process of thecorresponding row, it is not assumed that all of the data bytes includedin the corresponding row have error. Instead, only the data bytes thatare determined to be not reliable, after referring to the reliabilityinformation on the reliability map, are set to have errors. In otherwords, regardless of the presence of CRC errors in the correspondingrow, only the data bytes that are determined to be not reliable (orunreliable) by the reliability map are set as erasure points.

Thereafter, if the number of erasure points for each column is equal toor smaller than the maximum number of errors (e.g., 48), the RS erasuredecoding process is performed on the corresponding the column.Conversely, if the number of erasure points is greater than the maximumnumber of errors (e.g., 48), which may be corrected by the RS erasuredecoding process, a general decoding process is performed on thecorresponding column. In other words, if the number of rows having CRCerrors is greater than the maximum number of errors (e.g., 48), whichmay be corrected by the RS erasure decoding process, either a RS erasuredecoding process or a general RS decoding process is performed on aparticular column in accordance with the number of erasure point withinthe corresponding column, wherein the number is decided based upon thereliability information on the reliability map. When the above-describedprocess is performed, the error correction decoding process is performedin the direction of all of the columns included in the RS frame.Thereafter, the 48 bytes of parity data added to the end of each columnare removed.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram showing the structure of a digitalbroadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 9, the digital broadcast receiver includes a tuner901, a demodulating unit 902, a demultiplexer 903, an audio decoder 904,a video decoder 905, a native TV application manager 906, a channelmanager 907, a channel map 908, a first memory 909, a data decoder 910,a second memory 911, a system manager 912, a data broadcastingapplication manager 913, a storage controller 914, and a third memory915. Herein, the third memory 915 is a mass storage device, such as ahard disk drive (HDD) or a memory chip. The tuner 901 tunes a frequencyof a specific channel through any one of an antenna, cable, andsatellite. Then, the tuner 901 down-converts the tuned frequency to anintermediate frequency (IF), which is then outputted to the demodulatingunit 902. At this point, the tuner 901 is controlled by the channelmanager 907. Additionally, the result and strength of the broadcastsignal of the tuned channel are also reported to the channel manager907. The data that are being received by the frequency of the tunedspecific channel include main data, enhanced data, and table data fordecoding the main data and enhanced data.

In the embodiment of the present invention, examples of the enhanceddata may include data provided for data service, such as Javaapplication data, HTML application data, XML data, and so on. The dataprovided for such data services may correspond either to a Java classfile for the Java application, or to a directory file designatingpositions (or locations) of such files. Furthermore, such data may alsocorrespond to an audio file and/or a video file used in eachapplication. The data services may include weather forecast services,traffic information services, stock information services, servicesproviding information quiz programs providing audience participationservices, real time poll, user interactive education programs, gamingservices, services providing information on soap opera (or TV series)synopsis, characters, original sound track, filing sites, servicesproviding information on past sports matches, profiles andaccomplishments of sports players, product information and productordering services, services providing information on broadcast programsby media type, airing time, subject, and so on. The types of dataservices described above are only exemplary and are not limited only tothe examples given herein. Furthermore, depending upon the embodiment ofthe present invention, the enhanced data may correspond to meta data.For example, the meta data use the XML application so as to betransmitted through a DSM-CC protocol.

The demodulating unit 902 performs demodulation and channel equalizationon the signal being outputted from the tuner 901, thereby identifyingthe main data and the enhanced data. Thereafter, the identified maindata and enhanced data are outputted in TS packet units. Examples of thedemodulating unit 902 is shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8. The demodulatingunit shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8 is merely exemplary and the scope of thepresent invention is not limited to the examples set forth herein. Inthe embodiment given as an example of the present invention, only theenhanced data packet outputted from the demodulating unit 902 isinputted to the demultiplexer 903. In this case, the main data packet isinputted to another demultiplexer (not shown) that processes main datapackets. Herein, the storage controller 914 is also connected to theother demultiplexer in order to store the main data after processing themain data packets. The demultiplexer of the present invention may alsobe designed to process both enhanced data packets and main data packetsin a single demultiplexer.

The storage controller 914 is interfaced with the demultipelxer so as tocontrol instant recording, reserved (or pre-programmed) recording, timeshift, and so on of the enhanced data and/or main data. For example,when one of instant recording, reserved (or pre-programmed) recording,and time shift is set and programmed in the receiving system (orreceiver) shown in FIG. 9, the corresponding enhanced data and/or maindata that are inputted to the demultiplexer are stored in the thirdmemory 915 in accordance with the control of the storage controller 914.The third memory 915 may be described as a temporary storage area and/ora permanent storage area. Herein, the temporary storage area is used forthe time shifting function, and the permanent storage area is used for apermanent storage of data according to the user's choice (or decision).

When the data stored in the third memory 915 need to be reproduced (orplayed), the storage controller 914 reads the corresponding data storedin the third memory 915 and outputs the read data to the correspondingdemultiplexer (e.g., the enhanced data are outputted to thedemultiplexer 903 shown in FIG. 9). At this point, according to theembodiment of the present invention, since the storage capacity of thethird memory 915 is limited, the compression encoded enhanced dataand/or main data that are being inputted are directly stored in thethird memory 915 without any modification for the efficiency of thestorage capacity. In this case, depending upon the reproduction (orreading) command, the data read from the third memory 915 pass troughthe demultiplexer so as to be inputted to the corresponding decoder,thereby being restored to the initial state.

The storage controller 914 may control the reproduction (or play),fast-forward, rewind, slow motion, instant replay functions of the datathat are already stored in the third memory 915 or presently beingbuffered. Herein, the instant replay function corresponds to repeatedlyviewing scenes that the viewer (or user) wishes to view once again. Theinstant replay function may be performed on stored data and also on datathat are currently being received in real time by associating theinstant replay function with the time shift function. If the data beinginputted correspond to the analog format, for example, if thetransmission mode is NTSC, PAL, and so on, the storage controller 914compression encodes the inputted data and stored the compression-encodeddata to the third memory 915. In order to do so, the storage controller914 may include an encoder, wherein the encoder may be embodied as oneof software, middleware, and hardware. Herein, an MPEG encoder may beused as the encoder according to an embodiment of the present invention.The encoder may also be provided outside of the storage controller 914.

Meanwhile, in order to prevent illegal duplication (or copies) of theinput data being stored in the third memory 915, the storage controller914 scrambles the input data and stores the scrambled data in the thirdmemory 915. Accordingly, the storage controller 914 may include ascramble algorithm for scrambling the data stored in the third memory915 and a descramble algorithm for descrambling the data read from thethird memory 915. Herein, the definition of scramble includesencryption, and the definition of descramble includes decryption. Thescramble method may include using an arbitrary key (e.g., control word)to modify a desired set of data, and also a method of mixing signals.

Meanwhile, the demultiplexer 903 receives the real-time data outputtedfrom the demodulating unit 902 or the data read from the third memory915 and demultiplexes the received data. In the example given in thepresent invention, the demultiplexer 903 performs demultiplexing on theenhanced data packet. Therefore, in the present invention, the receivingand processing of the enhanced data will be described in detail. Itshould also be noted that a detailed description of the processing ofthe main data will be omitted for simplicity starting from thedescription of the demultiplexer 903 and the subsequent elements.

The demultiplexer 903 demultiplexes enhanced data and program specificinformation/program and system information protocol (PSI/PSIP) tablesfrom the enhanced data packet inputted in accordance with the control ofthe data decoder 910. Thereafter, the demultiplexed enhanced data andPSI/PSIP tables are outputted to the data decoder 910 in a sectionformat. In order to extract the enhanced data from the channel throughwhich enhanced data are transmitted and to decode the extracted enhanceddata, system information is required. Such system information may alsobe referred to as service information. The system information mayinclude channel information, event information, etc. In the embodimentof the present invention, the PSI/PSIP tables are applied as the systeminformation. However, the present invention is not limited to theexample set forth herein. More specifically, regardless of the name, anyprotocol transmitting system information in a table format may beapplied in the present invention.

The PSI table is an MPEG-2 system standard defined for identifying thechannels and the programs. The PSIP table is an advanced televisionsystems committee (ATSC) standard that can identify the channels and theprograms. The PSI table may include a program association table (PAT), aconditional access table (CAT) r a program map table (PMT), and anetwork information table (NIT). Herein, the PAT corresponds to specialinformation that is transmitted by a data packet having a PID of ‘0’.The PAT transmits PID information of the PMT and PID information of theNIT corresponding to each program. The CAT transmits information on apaid broadcast system used by the transmitting system. The PMT transmitsPID information of a transport stream (TS) packet, in which programidentification numbers and individual bit sequences of video and audiodata configuring the corresponding program are transmitted, and the PIDinformation, in which PCR is transmitted. The NIT transmits informationof the actual transmission network.

The PSIP table may include a virtual channel table (VCT), a system timetable (STT), a rating region table (RRT), an extended text table (ETT),a direct channel change table (DCCT), an event information table (EIT),and a master guide table (MGT). The VCT transmits information on virtualchannels, such as channel information for selecting channels andinformation such as packet identification (PID) numbers for receivingthe audio and/or video data. More specifically, when the VCT is parsed,the PID of the audio/video data of the broadcast program may be known.Herein, the corresponding audio/video data are transmitted within thechannel along with the channel name and the channel number. The STTtransmits information on the current data and timing information. TheRRT transmits information on region and consultation organs for programratings. The ETT transmits additional description of a specific channeland broadcast program. The EIT transmits information on virtual channelevents (e.g., program title, program start time, etc.). The DCCT/DCCSCTtransmits information associated with automatic (or direct) channelchange. And, the MGT transmits the versions and PID information of theabove-mentioned tables included in the PSIP.

Each of the above-described tables included in the PSI/PSIP isconfigured of a basic unit referred to as a “section”, and a combinationof one or more sections forms a table. For example, the VCT may bedivided into 256 sections. Herein, one section may include a pluralityof virtual channel information. However, a single set of virtual channelinformation is not divided into two or more sections. At this point, thereceiving system may parse and decode the data for the data service thatare transmitting by using only the tables included in the PSI, or onlythe tables included in the PISP, or a combination of tables included inboth the PSI and the PSIP. In order to parse and decode the data for thedata service, at least one of the PAT and PMT included in the PSI, andthe VCT included in the PSIP is required. For example, the PAT mayinclude the system information for transmitting the data correspondingto the data service, and the PID of the PMT corresponding to the dataservice data (or program number). The PMT may include the PID of the TSpacket used for transmitting the data service data. The VCT may includeinformation on the virtual channel for transmitting the data servicedata, and the PID of the TS packet for transmitting the data servicedata.

Meanwhile, depending upon the embodiment of the present invention, aDVB-SI may be applied instead of the PSIP. The DVB-SI may include anetwork information table (NIT), a service description table (SDT), anevent information table (EIT), and a time and data table (TDT). TheDVB-SI may be used in combination with the above-described PSI. Herein,the NIT divides the services corresponding to particular networkproviders by specific groups. The NIT includes all tuning informationthat are used during the IRD set-up. The NIT may be used for informingor notifying any change in the tuning information. The SDT includes theservice name and different parameters associated with each servicecorresponding to a particular MPEG multiplex. The EIT is used fortransmitting information associated with all events occurring in theMPEG multiplex. The EIT includes information on the current transmissionand also includes information selectively containing differenttransmission streams that may be received by the IRD. And, the TDT isused for updating the clock included in the IRD.

Furthermore, three selective SI tables (i.e., a bouquet associate table(BAT), a running status table (RST), and a stuffing table (ST)) may alsobe included. More specifically, the bouquet associate table (BAT)provides a service grouping method enabling the IRD to provide servicesto the viewers. Each specific service may belong to at least one‘bouquet’ unit. A running status table (RST) section is used forpromptly and instantly updating at least one event execution status. Theexecution status section is transmitted only once at the changing pointof the event status. Other SI tables are generally transmitted severaltimes. The stuffing table (ST) may be used for replacing or discarding asubsidiary table or the entire SI tables.

In the present invention, the enhanced data included in the payloadwithin the TS packet consist of a digital storage media-command andcontrol (DSM-CC) section format. However, the TS packet including thedata service data may correspond either to a packetized elementarystream (PES) type or to a section type. More specifically, either thePES type data service data configure the TS packet, or the section typedata service data configure the TS packet. The TS packet configured ofthe section type data will be given as the example of the presentinvention. At this point, the data service data are includes in thedigital storage media-command and control (DSM-CC) section. Herein, theDSM-CC section is then configured of a 188-byte unit TS packet.

Furthermore, the packet identification of the TS packet configuring theDSM-CC section is included in a data service table (DST). Whentransmitting the DST, ‘0x95’ is assigned as the value of a stream_typefield included in the service location descriptor of the PMT or the VCT.More specifically, when the PMT or VCT stream_type field value is‘0x95’, the receiving system may acknowledge that data broadcastingincluding enhanced data (i.e., the enhanced data) is being received. Atthis point, the enhanced data may be transmitted by a data carouselmethod. The data carousel method corresponds to repeatedly transmittingidentical data on a regular basis.

At this point, according to the control of the data decoder 910, thedemultiplexer 903 performs section filtering, thereby discardingrepetitive sections and outputting only the non-repetitive sections tothe data decoder 910. The demultiplexer 903 may also output only thesections configuring desired tables (e.g., VCT) to the data decoder 910by section filtering. Herein, the VCT may include a specific descriptorfor the enhanced data. However, the present invention does not excludethe possibilities of the enhanced data being included in other tables,such as the PMT. The section filtering method may include a method ofverifying the PID of a table defined by the MGT, such as the VCT, priorto performing the section filtering process. Alternatively, the sectionfiltering method may also include a method of directly performing thesection filtering process without verifying the MGT, when the VCTincludes a fixed PID (i.e., a base PID). At this point, thedemultiplexer 903 performs the section filtering process by referring toa table_id field, a version_number field, a section_number field, etc.

As described above, the method of defining the PID of the VCT broadlyincludes two different methods. Herein, the PID of the VCT is a packetidentifier required for identifying the VCT from other tables. The firstmethod consists of setting the PID of the VCT so that it is dependent tothe MGT. In this case, the receiving system cannot directly verify theVCT among the many PSI and/or PSIP tables. Instead, the receiving systemmust check the PID defined in the MGT in order to read the VCT. Herein,the MGT defines the PID, size, version number, and so on, of diversetables. The second method consists of setting the PID of the VCT so thatthe PID is given a base PID value (or a fixed PID value), thereby beingindependent from the MGT. In this case, unlike in the first method, theVCT according to the present invention may be identified without havingto verify every single PID included in the MGT. Evidently, an agreementon the base PID must be previously made between the transmitting systemand the receiving system.

Meanwhile, in the embodiment of the present invention, the demultiplexer903 may output only an application information table (AIT) to the datadecoder 910 by section filtering. The AIT includes information on anapplication being operated in the receiver for the data service. The AITmay also be referred to as an XAIT, and an AMT. Therefore, any tableincluding application information may correspond to the followingdescription. When the AIT is transmitted, a value of ‘0x05’ may beassigned to a stream_type field of the PMT. The AIT may includeapplication information, such as application name, application version,application priority, application ID, application status (i.e.,auto-start, user-specific settings, kill, etc.), application type (i.e.,Java or HTML), position (or location) of stream including applicationclass and data files, application platform directory, and location ofapplication icon.

In the method for detecting application information for the data serviceby using the AIT, component_tag, original_network_id,transport_stream_id, and service_id fields may be used for detecting theapplication information. The component_tag field designates anelementary stream carrying a DSI of a corresponding object carousel. Theoriginal_network_id field indicates a DVB-SI original_network_id of theTS providing transport connection. The transport_stream_id fieldindicates the MPEG TS of the TS providing transport connection, and theservice_id field indicates the DVB-SI of the service providing transportconnection. Information on a specific channel may be obtained by usingthe original_network_id field, the transport_stream_id field, and theservice_id field. The data service data, such as the application data,detected by using the above-described method may be stored in the secondmemory 911 by the data decoder 910.

The data decoder 910 parses the DSM-CC section configuring thedemultiplexed enhanced data. Then, the enhanced data corresponding tothe parsed result are stored as a database in the second memory 911. Thedata decoder 910 groups a plurality of sections having the same tableidentification (table_id) so as to configure a table, which is thenparsed. Thereafter, the parsed result is stored as a database in thesecond memory 911. At this point, by parsing data and/or sections, thedata decoder 910 reads all of the remaining actual section data that arenot section-filtered by the demultiplexer 903. Then, the data decoder910 stores the read data to the second memory 911. The second memory 911corresponds to a table and data carousel database storing systeminformation parsed from tables and enhanced data parsed from the DSM-CCsection. Herein, a table_id field, a section_number field, and alast_section_number field included in the table may be used to indicatewhether the corresponding table is configured of a single section or aplurality of sections. For example, TS packets having the PID of the VCTare grouped to form a section, and sections having table identifiersallocated to the VCT are grouped to form the VCT.

When the VCT is parsed, information on the virtual channel to whichenhanced data are transmitted may be obtained. The obtained applicationidentification information, service component identificationinformation, and service information corresponding to the data servicemay either be stored in the second memory 911 or be outputted to thedata broadcasting application manager 913. In addition, reference may bemade to the application identification information, service componentidentification information, and service information in order to decodethe data service data. Alternatively, such information may also preparethe operation of the application program for the data service.Furthermore, the data decoder 910 controls the demultiplexing of thesystem information table, which corresponds to the information tableassociated with the channel and events. Thereafter, an A.V PID list maybe transmitted to the channel manager 907.

The channel manager 907 may refer to the channel map 908 in order totransmit a request for receiving system-related information data to thedata decoder 910, thereby receiving the corresponding result. Inaddition, the channel manager 907 may also control the channel tuning ofthe tuner 901. Furthermore, the channel manager 907 may directly controlthe demultiplexer 903, so as to set up the A/V PID, thereby controllingthe audio decoder 904 and the video decoder 905. The audio decoder 904and the video decoder 905 may respectively decode and output the audiodata and video data demultiplexed from the main data packet.Alternatively, the audio decoder 904 and the video decoder 905 mayrespectively decode and output the audio data and video datademultiplexed from the enhanced data packet. Meanwhile, when theenhanced data include data service data, and also audio data and videodata, it is apparent that the audio data and video data demultiplexed bythe demultiplexer 903 are respectively decoded by the audio decoder 904and the video decoder 905. For example, an audio-coding (AC)-3 decodingalgorithm may be applied to the audio decoder 904, and a MPEG-2 decodingalgorithm may be applied to the video decoder 905.

Meanwhile, the native TV application manager 906 operates a nativeapplication program stored in the first memory 909, thereby performinggeneral functions such as channel change. The native application programrefers to software stored in the receiving system upon shipping of theproduct. More specifically, when a user request (or command) istransmitted to the receiving system through a user interface (UI), thenative TV application manger 906 displays the user request on a screenthrough a graphic user interface (GUI), thereby responding to the user'srequest. The user interface receives the user request through an inputdevice, such as a remote controller, a key pad, a jog controller, an atouch-screen provided on the screen, and then outputs the received userrequest to the native TV application manager 906 and the databroadcasting application manager 913. Furthermore, the native TVapplication manager 906 controls the channel manager 907, therebycontrolling channel-associated, such as the management of the channelmap 908, and controlling the data decoder 910. The native TV applicationmanager 906 also controls the GUI of the overall receiving system,thereby storing the user request and status of the receiving system inthe first memory 909 and restoring the stored information.

The channel manager 907 controls the tuner 901 and the data decoder 910,so as to managing the channel map 908 so that it can respond to thechannel request made by the user. More specifically, channel manager 907sends a request to the data decoder 910 so that the tables associatedwith the channels that are to be tuned are parsed. The results of theparsed tables are reported to the channel manager 907 by the datadecoder 910. Thereafter, based on the parsed results, the channelmanager 907 updates the channel map 908 and sets up a PID in thedemultiplexer 903 for demultiplexing the tables associated with the dataservice data from the enhanced data.

The system manager 912 controls the booting of the receiving system byturning the power on or off. Then, the system manager 912 stores ROMimages (including downloaded software images) in the first memory 909.More specifically, the first memory 909 stores management programs suchas operating system (OS) programs required for managing the receivingsystem and also application program executing data service functions.The application program is a program processing the data service datastored in the second memory 911 so as to provide the user with the dataservice. If the data service data are stored in the second memory 911,the corresponding data service data are processed by the above-describedapplication program or by other application programs, thereby beingprovided to the user. The management program and application programstored in the first memory 909 may be updated or corrected to a newlydownloaded program. Furthermore, the storage of the stored managementprogram and application program is maintained without being deleted evenif the power of the system is shut down. Therefore, when the power issupplied the programs may be executed without having to be newlydownloaded once again.

The application program for providing data service according to thepresent invention may either be initially stored in the first memory 909upon the shipping of the receiving system, or be stored in the first 909after being downloaded. The application program for the data service(i.e., the data service providing application program) stored in thefirst memory 909 may also be deleted, updated, and corrected.Furthermore, the data service providing application program may bedownloaded and executed along with the data service data each time thedata service data are being received.

When a data service request is transmitted through the user interface,the data broadcasting application manager 913 operates the correspondingapplication program stored in the first memory 909 so as to process therequested data, thereby providing the user with the requested dataservice. And, in order to provide such data service, the databroadcasting application manager 913 supports the graphic user interface(GUI). Herein, the data service may be provided in the form of text (orshort message service (SMS)), voice message, still image, and movingimage. The data broadcasting application manager 913 may be providedwith a platform for executing the application program stored in thefirst memory 909. The platform may be, for example, a Java virtualmachine for executing the Java program. Hereinafter, an example of thedata broadcasting application manager 913 executing the data serviceproviding application program stored in the first memory 909, so as toprocess the data service data stored in the second memory 911, therebyproviding the user with the corresponding data service will now bedescribed in detail.

Assuming that the data service corresponds to a traffic informationservice, the data service according to the present invention is providedto the user of a receiver that is not equipped with an electronic mapand/or a GPS system in the form of at least one of a text (or shortmessage service (SMS)), a voice message, a graphic message, a stillimage, and a moving image. In this case, is a GPS module is mounted onthe receiving system shown in FIG. 9, the GPS module receives satellitesignals transmitted from a plurality of low earth orbit satellites andextracts the current position (or location) information (e.g.,longitude, latitude, altitude), thereby outputting the extractedinformation to the data broadcasting application manager 913.

At this point, it is assumed that the electronic map includinginformation on each link and nod and other diverse graphic informationare stored in one of the second memory 911, the first memory 909, andanother memory that is not shown. More specifically, according to therequest made by the data broadcasting application manager 913, the dataservice data stored in the second memory 911 are read and inputted tothe data broadcasting application manager 913. The data broadcastingapplication manager 913 translates (or deciphers) the data service dataread from the second memory 911, thereby extracting the necessaryinformation according to the contents of the message and/or a controlsignal.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram showing the structure of a digitalbroadcast (or television) receiver according to another embodiment ofthe present invention. Referring to FIG. 10, the digital broadcastreceiver includes a tuner 1001, a demodulating unit 1002, ademultiplexer 1003, a first descrambler 1004, an audio decoder 1005, avideo decoder 1006, a second descrambler 1007, an authentication unit1008, a native TV application manager 1009, a channel manager 1010, achannel map 1011, a first memory 1012, a data decoder 1013, a secondmemory 1014, a system manager 1015, a data broadcasting applicationmanager 1016, a storage controller 1017, a third memory 1018, and atelecommunication module 1019. Herein, the third memory 1018 is a massstorage device, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a memory chip. Also,during the description of the digital broadcast (or television or DTV)receiver shown in FIG. 10, the components that are identical to those ofthe digital broadcast receiver of FIG. 9 will be omitted for simplicity.

As described above, in order to provide services for preventing illegalduplication (or copies) or illegal viewing of the enhanced data and/ormain data that are transmitted by using a broadcast network, and toprovide paid broadcast services, the transmitting system may generallyscramble and transmit the broadcast contents. Therefore, the receivingsystem needs to descrample the scrambled broadcast contents in order toprovide the user with the proper broadcast contents. Furthermore, thereceiving system may generally be processed with an authenticationprocess with an authentication means before the descrambling process.Hereinafter, the receiving system including an authentication means anda descrambling means according to an embodiment of the present inventionwill now be described in detail.

According to the present invention, the receiving system may be providedwith a descrambling means receiving scrambled broadcasting contents andan authentication means authenticating (or verifying) whether thereceiving system is entitled to receive the descrambled contents.Hereinafter, the descrambling means will be referred to as first andsecond descramblers 1004 and 1007, and the authentication means will bereferred to as an authentication unit 1008. Such naming of thecorresponding components is merely exemplary and is not limited to theterms suggested in the description of the present invention. Forexample, the units may also be referred to as a decryptor. Although FIG.10 illustrates an example of the descramblers 1004 and 1007 and theauthentication unit 1008 being provided inside the receiving system,each of the descramblers 1004 and 1007 and the authentication unit 1008may also be separately provided in an internal or external module.Herein, the module may include a slot type, such as a SD or CF memory, amemory stick type, a USB type, and so on, and may be detachably fixed tothe receiving system.

As described above, when the authentication process is performedsuccessfully by the authentication unit 1008, the scrambled broadcastingcontents are descrambled by the descramblers 1004 and 1007, therebybeing provided to the user. At this point, a variety of theauthentication method and descrambling method may be used herein.However, an agreement on each corresponding method should be madebetween the receiving system and the transmitting system. Hereinafter,the authentication and descrambling methods will now be described, andthe description of identical components or process steps will be omittedfor simplicity.

The receiving system including the authentication unit 1008 and thedescramblers 1004 and 1007 will now be described in detail. Thereceiving system receives the scrambled broadcasting contents throughthe tuner 1001 and the demodulating unit 1002. Then, the system manager1015 decides whether the received broadcasting contents have beenscrambled. Herein, the demodulating unit 1002 may be included as ademodulating means according to embodiments of the present invention asdescribed in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8. However, the present invention is notlimited to the examples given in the description set forth herein. Ifthe system manager 1015 decides that the received broadcasting contentshave been scrambled, then the system manager 1015 controls the system tooperate the authentication unit 1008. As described above, theauthentication unit 1008 performs an authentication process in order todecide whether the receiving system according to the present inventioncorresponds to a legitimate host entitled to receive the paidbroadcasting service. Herein, the authentication process may vary inaccordance with the authentication methods.

For example, the authentication unit 1008 may perform the authenticationprocess by comparing an IP address of an IP datagram within the receivedbroadcasting contents with a specific address of a corresponding host.At this point, the specific address of the corresponding receivingsystem (or host) may be a MAC address. More specifically, theauthentication unit 1008 may extract the IP address from thedecapsulated IP datagram, thereby obtaining the receiving systeminformation that is mapped with the IP address. At this point, thereceiving system should be provided, in advance, with information (e.g.,a table format) that can map the IP address and the receiving systeminformation. Accordingly, the authentication unit 1008 performs theauthentication process by determining the conformity between the addressof the corresponding receiving system and the system information of thereceiving system that is mapped with the IP address. In other words, ifthe authentication unit 1008 determines that the two types ofinformation conform to one another, then the authentication unit 1008determines that the receiving system is entitled to receive thecorresponding broadcasting contents.

In another example, standardized identification information is definedin advance by the receiving system and the transmitting system. Then,the identification information of the receiving system requesting thepaid broadcasting service is transmitted by the transmitting system.Thereafter, the receiving system determines whether the receivedidentification information conforms with its own unique identificationnumber, so as to perform the authentication process. More specifically,the transmitting system creates a database for storing theidentification information (or number) of the receiving systemrequesting the paid broadcasting service. Then, if the correspondingbroadcasting contents are scrambled, the transmitting system includesthe identification information in the EMM, which is then transmitted tothe receiving system.

If the corresponding broadcasting contents are scrambled, messages(e.g., entitlement control message (ECM), entitlement management message(EMM)), such as the CAS information, mode information, message positioninformation, that are applied to the scrambling of the broadcastingcontents are transmitted through a corresponding data header or antherdata packet. The ECM may include a control word (CW) used for scramblingthe broadcasting contents. At this point, the control word may beencoded with an authentication key. The EMM may include anauthentication key and entitlement information of the correspondingdata. Herein, the authentication key may be encoded with areceiver-specific distribution key. In other words, assuming that theenhanced data are scrambled by using the control word, and that theauthentication information and the descrambling information aretransmitted from the transmitting system, the transmitting systemencodes the CW with the authentication key and, then, includes theencoded CW in the entitlement control message (ECM), which is thentransmitted to the receiving system. Furthermore, the transmittingsystem includes the authentication key used for encoding the CW and theentitlement to receive data (or services) of the receiving system (i.e.,a standardized serial number of the receiving system that is entitled toreceive the corresponding broadcasting service or data) in theentitlement management message (EMM), which is then transmitted to thereceiving system.

Accordingly, the authentication unit 1008 of the receiving systemextracts the identification information of the receiving system and theidentification information included in the EMM of the broadcastingservice that is being received. Then, the authentication unit 1008determines whether the identification information conform to each other,so as to perform the authentication process. More specifically, if theauthentication unit 1008 determines that the information conform to eachother, then the authentication unit 1008 eventually determines that thereceiving system is entitled to receive the request broadcastingservice.

In yet another example, the authentication unit 1008 of the receivingsystem may be detachably fixed to an external module. In this case, thereceiving system is interfaced with the external module through a commoninterface (CI). In other words, the external module may receive the datascrambled by the receiving system through the common interface, therebyperforming the descrambling process of the received data. Alternatively,the external module may also transmit only the information required forthe descrambling process to the receiving system. The common interfaceis configured on a physical layer and at least one protocol layer.Herein, in consideration of any possible expansion of the protocol layerin a later process, the corresponding protocol layer may be configuredto have at least one layer that can each provide an independentfunction.

The external module may either consist of a memory or card havinginformation on the key used for the scrambling process and otherauthentication information but not including any descrambling function,or consist of a card having the above-mentioned key information andauthentication information and including the descrambling function. Boththe receiving system and the external module should be authenticated inorder to provide the user with the paid broadcasting service provided(or transmitted) from the transmitting system. Therefore, thetransmitting system can only provide the corresponding paid broadcastingservice to the authenticated pair of receiving system and externalmodule.

Additionally, an authentication process should also be performed betweenthe receiving system and the external module through the commoninterface. More specifically, the module may communicate with the systemmanager 1015 included in the receiving system through the commoninterface, thereby authenticating the receiving system. Alternatively,the receiving system may authenticate the module through the commoninterface. Furthermore, during the authentication process, the modulemay extract the unique ID of the receiving system and its own unique IDand transmit the extracted IDs to the transmitting system. Thus, thetransmitting system may use the transmitted ID values as informationdetermining whether to start the requested service or as paymentinformation. Whenever necessary, the system manager 1015 transmits thepayment information to the remote transmitting system through thetelecommunication module 1019.

The authentication unit 1008 authenticates the corresponding receivingsystem and/or the external module. Then, if the authentication processis successfully completed, the authentication unit 1008 certifies thecorresponding receiving system and/or the external module as alegitimate system and/or module entitled to receive the requested paidbroadcasting service. In addition, the authentication unit 1008 may alsoreceive authentication-associated information from a mobiletelecommunications service provider to which the user of the receivingsystem is subscribed, instead of the transmitting system providing therequested broadcasting service. In this case, theauthentication-association information may either be scrambled by thetransmitting system providing the broadcasting service and, then,transmitted to the user through the mobile telecommunications serviceprovider, or be directly scrambled and transmitted by the mobiletelecommunications service provider. Once the authentication process issuccessfully completed by the authentication unit 1008, the receivingsystem may descramble the scrambled broadcasting contents received fromthe transmitting system. At this point, the descrambling process isperformed by the first and second descramblers 1004 and 1007. Herein,the first and second descramblers 1004 and 1007 may be included in aninternal module or an external module of the receiving system.

The receiving system is also provided with a common interface forcommunicating with the external module including the first and seconddescramblers 1004 and 1007, so as to perform the descrambling process.More specifically, the first and second descramblers 1004 and 1007 maybe included in the module or in the receiving system in the form ofhardware, middleware or software. Herein, the descramblers 1004 and 1007may be included in any one of or both of the module and the receivingsystem. If the first and second descramblers 1004 and 1007 are providedinside the receiving system, it is advantageous to have the transmittingsystem (i.e., at least any one of a service provider and a broadcaststation) scramble the corresponding data using the same scramblingmethod.

Alternatively, if the first and second descramblers 1004 and 1007 areprovided in the external module, it is advantageous to have eachtransmitting system scramble the corresponding data using differentscrambling methods. In this case, the receiving system is not requiredto be provided with the descrambling algorithm corresponding to eachtransmitting system. Therefore, the structure and size of receivingsystem may be simplified and more compact. Accordingly, in this case,the external module itself may be able to provide CA functions, whichare uniquely and only provided by each transmitting systems, andfunctions related to each service that is to be provided to the user.The common interface enables the various external modules and the systemmanager 1015, which is included in the receiving system, to communicatewith one another by a single communication method. Furthermore, sincethe receiving system may be operated by being connected with at leastone or more modules providing different services, the receiving systemmay be connected to a plurality of modules and controllers.

In order to maintain successful communication between the receivingsystem and the external module, the common interface protocol includes afunction of periodically checking the status of the oppositecorrespondent. By using this function, the receiving system and theexternal module is capable of managing the status of each oppositecorrespondent. This function also reports the user or the transmittingsystem of any malfunction that may occur in any one of the receivingsystem and the external module and attempts the recovery of themalfunction.

In yet another example, the authentication process may be performedthrough software. More specifically, when a memory card having CASsoftware downloaded, for example, and stored therein in advanced isinserted in the receiving system, the receiving system receives andloads the CAS software from the memory card so as to perform theauthentication process. In this example, the CAS software is read outfrom the memory card and stored in the first memory 1012 of thereceiving system. Thereafter, the CAS software is operated in thereceiving system as an application program. According to an embodimentof the present invention, the CAS software is mounted on (or stored) ina middleware platform and, then executed. A Java middleware will begiven as an example of the middleware included in the present invention.Herein, the CAS software should at least include information requiredfor the authentication process and also information required for thedescrambling process.

Therefore, the authentication unit 1008 performs authenticationprocesses between the transmitting system and the receiving system andalso between the receiving system and the memory card. At this point, asdescribed above, the memory card should be entitled to receive thecorresponding data and should include information on a normal receivingsystem that can be authenticated. For example, information on thereceiving system may include a unique number, such as a standardizedserial number of the corresponding receiving system. Accordingly, theauthentication unit 1008 compares the standardized serial numberincluded in the memory card with the unique information of the receivingsystem, thereby performing the authentication process between thereceiving system and the memory card.

If the CAS software is first executed in the Java middleware base, thenthe authentication between the receiving system and the memory card isperformed. For example, when the unique number of the receiving systemstored in the memory card conforms to the unique number of the receivingsystem read from the system manager 1015, then the memory card isverified and determined to be a normal memory card that may be used inthe receiving system. At this point, the CAS software may either beinstalled in the first memory 1012 upon the shipping of the presentinvention, or be downloaded to the first memory 1012 from thetransmitting system or the module or memory card, as described above.Herein, the descrambling function may be operated by the databroadcasting application manger 1016 as an application program.

Thereafter, the CAS software parses the EMM/ECM packets outputted fromthe demultiplexer 1003, so as to verify whether the receiving system isentitled to receive the corresponding data, thereby obtaining theinformation required for descrambling (i.e., the CW) and providing theobtained CW to the descramblers 1004 and 1007. More specifically, theCAS software operating in the Java middleware platform first reads outthe unique (or serial) number of the receiving system from thecorresponding receiving system and compares it with the unique number ofthe receiving system transmitted through the EMM, thereby verifyingwhether the receiving system is entitled to receive the correspondingdata. Once the receiving entitlement of the receiving system isverified, the corresponding broadcasting service information transmittedto the ECM and the entitlement of receiving the correspondingbroadcasting service are used to verify whether the receiving system isentitled to receive the corresponding broadcasting service. Once thereceiving system is verified to be entitled to receive the correspondingbroadcasting service, the authentication key transmitted to the EMM isused to decode (or decipher) the encoded CW, which is transmitted to theECM, thereby transmitting the decoded CW to the descramblers 1004 and1007. Each of the descramblers 1004 and 1007 uses the CW to descramblethe broadcasting service.

Meanwhile, the CAS software stored in the memory card may be expanded inaccordance with the paid service which the broadcast station is toprovide. Additionally, the CAS software may also include otheradditional information other than the information associated with theauthentication and descrambling. Furthermore, the receiving system maydownload the CAS software from the transmitting system so as to upgrade(or update) the CAS software originally stored in the memory card. Asdescribed above, regardless of the type of broadcast receiver, as longas an external memory interface is provided, the present invention mayembody a CAS system that can meet the requirements of all types ofmemory card that may be detachably fixed to the receiving system. Thus,the present invention may realize maximum performance of the receivingsystem with minimum fabrication cost, wherein the receiving system mayreceive paid broadcasting contents such as broadcast programs, therebyacknowledging and regarding the variety of the receiving system.Moreover, since only the minimum application program interface isrequired to be embodied in the embodiment of the present invention, thefabrication cost may be minimized, thereby eliminating themanufacturer's dependence on CAS manufacturers. Accordingly, fabricationcosts of CAS equipments and management systems may also be minimized.

Meanwhile, the descramblers 1004 and 1007 may be included in the moduleeither in the form of hardware or in the form of software. In this case,the scrambled data that being received are descrambled by the module andthen demodulated. Also, if the scrambled data that are being receivedare stored in the third memory 1018, the received data may bedescrambled and then stored, or stored in the memory at the point ofbeing received and then descrambled later on prior to being played (orreproduced). Thereafter, in case scramble/descramble algorithms areprovided in the storage controller 1017, the storage controller 1017scrambles the data that are being received once again and then storesthe re-scrambled data to the third memory 1018.

In yet another example, the descrambled broadcasting contents(transmission of which being restricted) are transmitted through thebroadcasting network. Also, information associated with theauthentication and descrambling of data in order to disable thereceiving restrictions of the corresponding data are transmitted and/orreceived through the telecommunications module 1019. Thus, the receivingsystem is able to perform reciprocal (or two-way) communication. Thereceiving system may either transmit data to the telecommunicationmodule within the transmitting system or be provided with the data fromthe telecommunication module within the transmitting system. Herein, thedata correspond to broadcasting data that are desired to be transmittedto or from the transmitting system, and also unique information (i.e.,identification information) such as a serial number of the receivingsystem or MAC address.

The telecommunication module 1019 included in the receiving systemprovides a protocol required for performing reciprocal (or two-way)communication between the receiving system, which does not support thereciprocal communication function, and the telecommunication moduleincluded in the transmitting system. Furthermore, the receiving systemconfigures a protocol data unit (PDU) using a tag-length-value (TLV)coding method including the data that are to be transmitted and theunique information (or ID information). Herein, the tag field includesindexing of the corresponding PDU. The length field includes the lengthof the value field. And, the value field includes the actual data thatare to be transmitted and the unique number (e.g., identificationnumber) of the receiving system.

The receiving system may configure a platform that is equipped with theJava platform and that is operated after downloading the Javaapplication of the transmitting system to the receiving system throughthe network. In this case, a structure of downloading the PDU includingthe tag field arbitrarily defined by the transmitting system from astorage means included in the receiving system and then transmitting thedownloaded PDU to the telecommunication module 1019 may also beconfigured. Also, the PDU may be configured in the Java application ofthe receiving system and then outputted to the telecommunication module1019. The PDU may also be configured by transmitting the tag value, theactual data that are to be transmitted, the unique information of thecorresponding receiving system from the Java application and byperforming the TLV coding process in the receiving system. Thisstructure is advantageous in that the firmware of the receiving systemis not required to be changed even if the data (or application) desiredby the transmitting system is added.

The telecommunication module within the transmitting system eithertransmits the PDU received from the receiving system through a wirelessdata network or configures the data received through the network into aPDU which is transmitted to the host. At this point, when configuringthe PDU that is to be transmitted to the host, the telecommunicationmodule within the transmitting end may include unique information (e.g.,IP address) of the transmitting system which is located in a remotelocation. Additionally, in receiving and transmitting data through thewireless data network, the receiving system may be provided with acommon interface, and also provided with a WAP, CDMA 1x EV-DO, which canbe connected through a mobile telecommunication base station, such asCDMA and GSM, and also provided with a wireless LAN, mobile internet,WiBro, WiMax, which can be connected through an access point. Theabove-described receiving system corresponds to the system that is notequipped with a telecommunication function. However, a receiving systemequipped with telecommunication function does not require thetelecommunication module 1019.

The broadcasting data being transmitted and received through theabove-described wireless data network may include data required forperforming the function of limiting data reception. Meanwhile, thedemultiplexer 1003 receives either the real-time data outputted from thedemodulating unit 1002 or the data read from the third memory 1018,thereby performing demultiplexing. In this embodiment of the presentinvention, the demultiplexer 1003 performs demultiplexing on theenhanced data packet. Similar process steps have already been describedearlier in the description of the present invention. Therefore, adetailed of the process of demultiplexing the enhanced data will beomitted for simplicity.

The first descrambler 1004 receives the demultiplexed signals from thedemultiplexer 1003 and then descrambles the received signals. At thispoint, the first descrambler 1004 may receive the authentication resultreceived from the authentication unit 1008 and other data required forthe descrambling process, so as to perform the descrambling process. Theaudio decoder 1005 and the video decoder 1006 receive the signalsdescrambled by the first descrambler 1004, which are then decoded andoutputted. Alternatively, if the first descrambler 1004 did not performthe descrambling process, then the audio decoder 1005 and the videodecoder 1006 directly decode and output the received signals. In thiscase, the decoded signals are received and then descrambled by thesecond descrambler 1007 and processed accordingly.

As described above, the digital broadcasting system and the dataprocessing method according to the present invention have the followingadvantages. More specifically, the digital broadcasting system and thedata processing method according to the present invention are highlyprotected against (or resistant to) any error that may occur whentransmitting supplemental data through a channel. And, the presentinvention is also highly compatible to the conventional receiver.Moreover, the present invention may also receive the supplemental datawithout any error even in channels having severe ghost effect and noise.

Additionally, by regularly inserting known data in a specific place (orposition) of the data domain, the receiving performance of the digitalbroadcast (or digital television) receiver liable to a frequent changein channel may be enhanced. Furthermore, by time-slicing a data packetand transmitting the time-sliced data packet in burst units, and bytransmitting burst-associated information in section units, therebyreducing the amount of power consumption in the receiver, the presentinvention is even more effective when applied to mobile and portablereceivers, which are also liable to a frequent change in channel andwhich require protection (or resistance) against intense noise.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. Thus, itis intended that the present invention covers the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

1. A digital television (DTV) transmitter comprising: an encapsulationunit for encapsulating enhanced data having an internet protocol (IP)format into a plurality of addressable sections and for inserting bursttime information into each addressable section; a first multiplexer formultiplexing the encapsulated enhanced data with program and systeminformation; a pre-processor for pre-processing the multiplexed enhanceddata by coding the enhanced data for forward error correction (FEC) andexpanding the FEC-coded enhanced data; a data formatter for generatingenhanced data packets including the pre-processed enhanced data and forinserting known data into at least one of the enhanced data packets; anda second multiplexer for generating at least one burst of data bymultiplexing the enhanced data packets, the burst of data including atleast one of the plurality of addressable sections.
 2. The digitaltelevision (DTV) transmitter of claim 1, wherein the second multiplexermultiplexes the enhanced data packets with at least one main data packetincluding main data.
 3. The digital television (DTV) transmitter ofclaim 2, wherein the burst of data includes the main data packet.
 4. Thedigital television (DTV) transmitter of claim 1, wherein theencapsulation unit inserts the burst time information into a header ofeach addressable section.
 5. The digital television (DTV) transmitter ofclaim 1, further comprising a scheduler for generating control signalsto control operations of the data formatter and the second multiplexer.6. The digital television (DTV) transmitter of claim 1, wherein theburst time information indicates a time between each addressable sectionincluded in a current burst of data and a next burst of data.
 7. Thedigital television (DTV) transmitter of claim 6, wherein the burst timeinformation is determined based on a location of each addressablesection within the current burst of data.
 8. The digital television(DTV) transmitter of claim 1, wherein the encapsulation unit furtherinserts a section number into each addressable section, the sectionnumber indicating a total number of addressable sections included in acurrent burst of data.
 9. The digital television (DTV) transmitter ofclaim 8, wherein the encapsulation unit inserts the section number intoa header of each addressable section.
 10. The digital television (DTV)transmitter of claim 1, wherein the encapsulation unit further inserts alast section number into each addressable section, the last sectionnumber indicating a count value of each addressable section.
 11. Amethod of coding data in a digital television (DTV) transmitter, themethod comprising: encapsulating enhanced data having an internetprotocol (IP) format into a plurality of addressable sections andinserting corresponding burst time information into each addressablesection; multiplexing the encapsulated enhanced data with program andsystem information; pro-processing the multiplexed enhanced data bycoding the enhanced data for forward error correction (FEC) andexpanding the FEC-coded enhanced data; generating enhanced data packetsincluding the pre-processed enhanced data and inserting known data intoat least one of the enhanced data packets; and generating at least oneburst of data by multiplexing the enhanced data packets, the burst ofdata including at least one of the plurality of addressable sections.12. The method of claim 11, wherein generating at least one burst ofdata comprises multiplexing the enhanced data packets with at least onemain data packet including main data.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the burst of data includes the main data packet.
 14. The methodof claim 11, wherein the burst time information is inserted into aheader of each addressable section.
 15. The method of claim 11, whereinthe burst time information indicates a time between each addressablesection included in a current bust of data and a next burst of data. 16.The method of claim 15, wherein the burst time information is determinedbased on a location of each addressable section within the current bustof data.
 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising inserting asection number into each addressable section, the section numberindicating a total number of addressable sections included in a currentburst of data.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the section number isincluded in a header of each addressable section.
 19. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising inserting a last section number into eachaddressable section, the last section number indicating a count value ofeach addressable section.
 20. The method of claim 11, further comprisinggenerating MPEG transport streams including the encapsulated addressablesections.
 21. A digital television (DTV) receiver comprising: ademodulator for demodulating a broadcast signal including at least oneburst of data, each burst of data including a plurality of addressablesections, each addressable section including enhanced data; an equalizerfor equalizing a channel of the demodulated broadcast signal; a channeldecoder for decoding the equalized signal by performingViterbi-decoding, data deinterleaving, RS decoding, and derandomizing onthe equalized broadcast signal; a main data packet remover for removingmain data packets from the decoded signal and outputting enhanced datapackets only; a demultiplexer for parsing program and system informationfrom the enhanced data packets; a data extractor for extracting theaddressable sections from the enhanced data packets outputted from thedemultiplexer and for extracting burst time information from eachaddressable section.
 22. The digital television (DTV) receiver of claim21, wherein the burst time information indicates a time between eachaddressable section included in a current burst of data and a next burstof data.
 23. The digital television (DTV) receiver of claim 22, whereinthe burst time information is determined based on a location of eachaddressable section within the current burst of data.
 24. The digitaltelevision (DTV) receiver of claim 21, wherein the data extractorfurther extracts a section number from each addressable section, thesection number indicating a total number of addressable sectionsincluded in a current burst of data.
 25. The digital television (DTV)receiver of claim 21, wherein the data extractor further extracts a lastsection number from each addressable section, the last section numberindicating a count value of each addressable section.
 26. A method ofdecoding data in a digital television (DTV) receiver, the methodcomprising: demodulating a broadcast signal including at least one burstof data, each burst of data including a plurality of addressablesections, each addressable section including enhanced data; equalizing achannel of the demodulated broadcast signal; decoding the equalizedsignal by performing Viterbi-decoding, data deinterleaving, RS decoding,and derandomizing on the channel-equalized signal; removing main datapackets from the decoded signal and outputting enhanced data packetsonly; parsing program and system information from the enhanced datapackets; and extracting the addressable sections from the enhanced datapackets and extracting burst time information from each addressablesection.
 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the burst time informationindicates a time between each addressable section included in a currentburst of data and a next burst of data.
 28. The method of claim 27,wherein the burst time information is determined based on a location ofeach addressable section within the current burst of data.
 29. Themethod of claim 26, further comprising extracting a section number fromeach addressable section, the section number indicating a total numberof addressable sections included in a current burst of data.
 30. Themethod of claim 26, further comprising extracting a last section numberfrom each addressable section, the last section number indicating acount value of each addressable section.